Deschutes County Sheriff Candidate Kent Vander Kamp Was Terminated from a California Police Department In 1997. We May Soon Know Why.

Kent Vander Kamp, a 20-year veteran of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, is under investigation by outgoing Sheriff Shane Nelson, for a position Vander Kamp held at the La Mesa, California, police department before applying at DCSO. At issue is that Vander Kamp allegedly did not disclose his previous employment at La Mesa Police Department nor the reason for his termination, as first reported by The Bulletin. La Mesa PD confirmed in court documents that the agency does have a file on Vander Kamp containing the results of an internal investigation, with the involvement of the Los Angeles Police Department, prior to his termination in 1997.

Nelson, according to the case’s court documents, first contacted La Mesa PD in March of this year seeking personnel information about Vander Kamp under California’s Public Records Act. His initial request was denied, prompting a follow-up in early April where Nelson said he had reason to believe Vander Kamp was terminated from the agency and placed on a Brady list. A Brady list is a “database of information about police misconduct, public complaints, use-of-force reports,” according to the Brady List website.

“If our information about Mr. Vander Kamp being on a Brady list is accurate, as I have reason to believe, there is a significant risk that criminal cases he has been involved in are in jeopardy, and that our state and federal prosecutors have unknowingly failed to produce exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States,” Nelson wrote in a letter to La Mesa PD on April 4.

On Sept. 12, the judge assigned to the case in the Superior Court of California tentatively ruled to release Vander Kamp’s personnel records to DCSO. The next hearing is set for Thursday, Sept. 26.

Vander Kamp is running for Deschutes County Sheriff against William Bailey, Nelson’s chosen replacement. Nelson announced last year that he was retiring from the force. Nelson’s tenure in the top office has been plagued by allegations of discrimination and lawsuits brought against him – including a tort claim notice Vander Kamp filed last month claiming that Nelson is interfering in the election and free speech.

Nelson initiated the investigation into Vander Kamp’s employment history with the La Mesa Police Department after a complaint was filed against Vander Kamp by Mandi Puckett, former executive director at CLEAR Alliance, a nonprofit that seeks to educate Oregon teenagers on the dangers of drug use and drug-impaired driving. Vander Kamp is president of the organization’s board of directors.

In the tort claim notice filed earlier this month, Vander Kamp claimed that among other allegations, Puckett alleged that he did not “disclose prior law enforcement employment related information during the background investigations originally conducted as part of your employment with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.” Vander Kamp alleges in the tort claim that Puckett and Nelson are personal friends. “Puckett claimed she was not satisfied with the severance agreement she received weeks earlier. Sheriff Nelson and Puckett are personal friends, and Sheriff Nelson introduced Vander Kamp to Puckett and had previously asked Vander Kamp to assist her,” the claim states.

Within the court documents for DCSO’s lawsuit against the City of La Mesa, the allegation that Vander Kamp did not disclose his previous police service is supported by evidence provided by Capt. Paul Garrison, recently appointed undersheriff. In a heavily redacted 2004, “Confidential Personal History Questionnaire” that Vander Kamp signed when applying to be a reserve deputy sheriff, Vander Kamp does not list his position at La Mesa PD, and left blank the pages related to previous law enforcement experience – as well as checking “no” on certifications in the following years that specifically ask whether he was ever discharged from a public safety agency.

A deposition given by Matthew Nicholass, a captain at La Mesa PD, on July 26 provided more evidence that Vander Kamp’s termination was for substantive reasons that should concern DCSO administrators.

In early March, Nicholass said in the deposition, he talked with Nelson and confirmed Vander Kamp’s employment with La Mesa. “And I also shared with him that he had been terminated,” Nicholass said. “And I was cautious not to tell him the reason why. But we had a conversation and I alluded to it might be worthy of a public records request.”

The Source Weekly spoke with Vander Kamp Tuesday. He said he has also requested the documents from La Mesa and plans to make them public if or when he receives them, but cannot speak more about the case since he has joined the litigation and, he says, he is under an administrative gag order from DCSO– though he did question the timing of the investigation.

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This article appears in Source Weekly September 26, 2024.